Bauhaus - German Design

t's happening again! On June 27, in their annual special auction 'Bauhaus – German Design', Quittenbaum will be offering important objects from the Bauhaus and its contemporaries and other rare German designs from the whole of the 20th century. Almost 200 objects will be called up, with prices between €300 and €30,000. German pottery becomes more and more popular. It's the designs of the Bauhaus and its surroundings that are most coveted. We are happy to offer exciting objects from that area. For example, several sets by Eva Zeisel-Stricker will be available for moderate prices between €400 and €1,000. An original 'Frankfurt Kitchen' is a special treat. During the last twelve years, we were able to sell three of these icons of the 1920s. This almost complete exemplar with a beautiful blue colour and charming age patina and only a few restorations will be called up between €18,000 and 20,000. The designs by Bauhaus giants Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Josef Hartwig and Marianne Brandt hold a special part in the auction. Mies van der Rohe is present with some very rare and early executions of his furniture. A 'MR 20' – 'Weissenhof' easy chair from the 1930s will be on offer for €2,000 – 3,000, a 'MR 30' from the 1960s for €1,200 – 1,500; two 'Barcelona' easy chairs in an early postwar production have an estimate of €6,000 – 7,000. Marcel Breuer's 'B 65' desk, presumably from the late 1920s, is very well preserved; it is said to be a prototype or pre-series production, thus vindicating its estimate of €20,000 – 30,000. Another 'B 65' desk from an early Thonet production is taxed at €5,000 – 7,000. Josef Hartwig's chess set from 1924 is another Bauhaus classic, its estimate this time at €8,000. It's brought face to face with another interesting chess set from the era, whose designer remains unknown. Metal objects by Ruppel, designed by Marianne Brandt in the beginning of the 1930s, mustn't be missing from any Bauhaus auction; a table clock for €600 – 800 and two napkin holders for €700 – 800 are on offer. Lighting design by Christian Dell and Marianne Brandt for Kaiser resp. Kandem complete the offer with prices between €350 – 800. A furniture set by Ernst Rockhausen & Sons, also from the 1920s will be on offer as well; prices between €300 and 2,000. Egon Eiermann is held as one of the most important German architects and designers of the second half of the 20th century. His timeless designs are popular around the globe. We are happy to offer two unicum coffee tables from the designer's family. The tree-trunk tables were used in the Eiermann's living room during the 1950s and will be called up at €2,000 – €3,000 each. Moreover, the unicum clavichord from the Eiermann family can be purchased. It was designed by Eiermann's former student and coworker Rainer Schütze and received a diploma at the Triennial in Milan 1954. Eiermann designed the base for it. It will be called up for €2,000 – 3,000. A prototype wicker chair, which never reached serial production, will be called up at €2,000. The offer will be completed with a three-legged 'SE 69' chair for €1,000 and several three-legged 'SE 42' chairs between €800 and €1,600. The 'Menzel' chair is one of the most renowned examples of good GDR design. A pair of these chairs, designed by Erich Menzel in 1950/51, will be offered at €1,500 – 2,500. The HfG Ulm and the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart were considered to be most creative and innovative in the 1950/60s. Their professors' designs are world famous. The 'Ulm' stool is THE icon of minimalism. Designed by Hans Gugelot, Max Bill and Paul Hildinger, two variations, both from the HfG Ulm, will be offered for €2,000 and €2,500 respectively. Two radios by Braun, designed by Herbert Hirche and Hans Gugelot in the 1950s have an estimate of €400 each. Herta-Maria Witzemann's classic 'SW 88' wicker chair from the year 1954 is available as a set of twelve for €2,000. Günter Beltzig's designs are seen as counter movement to the functional German design of the HfG. His 'Floris' suite of furniture is popular worldwide and part of the exhibition of many a museum. In our Design auction of last February, a set of three chairs and a table were sold for €40,000 with fees. The 'Floris' chair with a low back, extremely rare, is taxed at €4,500 this time. Lighting designs by Ingo Maurer from the 1960s to the 2000s complete the offer with prices between €300 and 2,500.

174 lots of German Design were on offer on the first day of the auction. In the Bauhaus chapter, designs by women were most popular.

It started with the 'Frankfurt Kitchen' by Austrian-born Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which could be sold for €23,300 (lot 4). Marianne Brandt, head of the metal workshop of the Bauhaus in 1928/29, designed the '720' ceiling light together with Hin Bredendiek for Körting & Mathiesen in 1929 (lot 44). It was knocked down for €1,036. Her table clock for Ruppelwerke, made around the same time, received the same amount of money (lot 47). The works of potter Eva Zeisel Stricker are becoming more and more popular. Her tea set, composed of round and rectangular shapes, c1928, was highly coveted (lot 9). It will travel to Italy for €2,072. The 'Fiuma' set received €893 after all.

Certainly, the men of the Bauhaus must be mentioned as well. Marcel Breuer's black 'B 65' desk from the year 1929/30 (lot 29) will go to Hesse for €6,734. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's pair of 'Barcelona' chairs, of early Knoll production, went to Switzerland for €6,888 (lot 60).

Egon Eiermann dominated the 2nd chapter. The wonderful pieces from his own home were most sought-after. It isn't surprising then that the brilliant clavichord with base he made together with his pupil and co-worker Rainer Schütze (lot 68) found a new home for €4,921. One of the coffee tables with tree pit, c1950 (lot 128) went to Sweden for €4,428. The two pendant lights, made each of three 'Diana' shades by Wilhelm Wagenfeld, 1954 (lot 99) were very impressive as well. They went to Cologne for €5,957. Several museums battled fervently over objects by Herbert Hirche. His serving cart from 1956 (lot 98, €1,036) and his 'Stereo-Tischsuper RC8 TS 3' radio, 1958 for Braun will hopefully be shown publicly soon. Ferdinand Kramer's 'Rainbelle' umbrella made of paper is a special piece (lot 126). Designed in the USA in 1948, it was only issued in 1951. The rare design, only two other exemplars of which are known to exist in public collections, one at Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin and the other at Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, went into a private collection for €1,425.

From the later chapters, the rare and popular rhino by Renate Müller and Helene Häusler 1967 must be mentioned (lot 139). It will travel to Turkey this time for €3,367. A carpet by Hans Theo Baumann, from 1988, rarely seen on the market, was sold to Switzerland for €1,845 (lot 173).

Find some more rare and nice pieces in our post auction sale that continues until July 21.